Sun coverage: Doping in sports

February 18, 2009

A. Rodriguez says he was 'stupid and naive' in using drug he knew nothing about

A contrite and nervous Alex Rodriguez said yesterday that he injected a performance-enhancing drug repeatedly over three years of his career, again calling himself "stupid and naive" but failing to offer a further explanation for his use of a substance he said he didn't know was a steroid at the time.

February 15, 2009

Mitchell Report fallout leaves Bigbie stranded

A package of human growth hormone was delivered to Larry Bigbie's home in Northwest Indiana at Christmastime 2005. Within 10 minutes, federal investigators were at the former Orioles outfielder's door.

November 2, 2008

Start of 'roids rage

Was the doctor a genius, delighted with the creations that sprung from his mind, or a hopeless egotist?

February 17, 2008

Steroid hearings extend to racing

Four-legged athletes are joining their two-legged counterparts as part of a congressional probe into steroids in sports.

February 14, 2008

Clemens denies drug use

Before a packed congressional hearing room, Roger Clemens, one of the best pitchers in baseball history, fought to save his reputation yesterday as he angrily denied using steroids.

December 22, 2007

On Performance-Enhancers

No quit in cheaters thanks to continuous medical advances

Major League Baseball officials have spoken of former Sen. George Mitchell's report on steroids as a way to put a stamp of understanding on the past and move toward a cleaner future.

December 18, 2007

Roberts admits he used steroids

Orioles second baseman admitted last night that he used steroids "once," in 2003, but said he hasn't used them or any other performance-enhancing drugs since.

December 17, 2007

A. Rodriguez denies using steroids

Alex Rodriguez denied using performance-enhancing drugs, telling CBS' 60 Minutes in an interview aired last night that he has never felt as if he needed them to compete.

December 16, 2007

David Steele: Throw out the lead runners

After everything the Mitchell Report laid out about the depth and breadth of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, after all the suggestions and recommendations, after all the names were named and blame was assigned ... the same two foxes were left to guard the henhouse.

December 16, 2007

Rick Maese: Clemens belongs next to Bonds in hall of shame

Their names should be forever linked. Bonds and Clemens. Baseball's Bonnie and Clyde. Barnstorming American cities, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens robbed fans, plundered our pastime and cheated their fellow ballplayers, both past and present.

December 16, 2007

Pettitte says he used hGH to recover from injury

Andy Pettitte used human growth hormone to recover from an elbow injury in 2002, the New York Yankees pitcher admitted two days after he was cited in the Mitchell Report.

December 15, 2007

The Mitchell Report

President Bush 'troubled' by Mitchell Report

President Bush said yesterday that baseball players and owners must take seriously the Mitchell Report on steroid use, but he cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the players named.

December 15, 2007

The Mitchell Report

Segui makes Roberts' case

Former Oriole David Segui is mentioned continually throughout baseball's newly released Mitchell Report on steroids, but what irks him most is that his ex-teammate also is implicated as a performance-enhancing drug user based on what Segui believes is a combination of hearsay and inaccuracies from a trusted mutual friend.

December 15, 2007

The Mitchell Report How Sports Differ

Peter Schmuck: Elusive football lets baseball take steroid hit

During the news conference Thursday in which former Sen. George Mitchell unveiled his 409-page report on baseball's performance-enhancement scandal, I kept waiting for him to announce that he had been hired by the NFL to perform a similar investigation to root out the cheaters in America's most popular television sport.

December 15, 2007

History shows baseball will bounce back

Baseball is no stranger to scandal and unsavory history.

December 14, 2007

Difficult Road Ahead

Legal challenge, more inquiries could unfold

Former Sen. George J. Mitchell called it the closing of a chapter.

December 14, 2007

O's prominent in Mitchell Report

Yesterday's Mitchell Report thrust the Orioles back into the steroid scandal spotlight, with two of their All-Stars - second baseman and just-traded shortstop - linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

December 14, 2007

On Brian Roberts And The Mitchell Report

Rick Maese: On scant evidence, Roberts tangled in controversy

At 5 feet 9 and 175 pounds, he is among the smallest players linked to performance-enhancing drugs by the Mitchell Report. Small in stature, but not in significance.

December 14, 2007

The Mitchell Report Fan Reaction

Fan reaction: 'It's about time'

The use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball was the hot topic of discussion among local sports fans yesterday, with reactions to the information contained in the Mitchell Report ranging from surprise at the names involved to empathy for the accused.

December 14, 2007

Steroid timeline

December 14, 2007

The Mitchell Report Washington Reaction

Report riles up Congress

Congress recoiled from the Mitchell Report with indignation and outrage yesterday, then promised to cleanse baseball of performance-enhancing drugs in so many carefully crafted statements.

December 14, 2007

Testing policies and penalties for performance-enhancing drugs

Testing policies and penalties for performance-enhancing drugs:

December 14, 2007

The Report

Steroids report includes an All-Star list

Former Sen. George J. Mitchell unveiled his 409-page report on steroid use in baseball yesterday, naming two current and 17 former Orioles among dozens of players and delivering a stinging assessment of the league and team officials who allowed a drug culture to take over the game in the 1990s and early 2000s.

December 14, 2007

The Mitchell Report Closure Issue

Peter Schmuck: Baseball will long be haunted by steroid era

Not to get all biblical on you, but if the just-released Mitchell Report is any indication, the truth will not necessarily set you free.

December 14, 2007

The Mitchell Report Clemens And Pettitte

Trainer: Clemens used

New York Yankees pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are the most prominent players identified as users of performance-enhancing drugs in the Mitchell Report, which was released yesterday.

6:04 PM EST, December 13, 2007

Commentary

Knee-jerk reactions to the Mitchell Report

Knee-jerking 20 times over the Mitchell Report:

December 11, 2007

Ex-Oriole Segui: I used steroids; he's expecting to be in report

When Major League Baseball's Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drug use is released, likely later this week, at least one former Oriole fully expects to be mentioned prominently.

September 28, 2007

Chain of allegations full of links to O's

Rafael Palmeiro gave the downtrodden Orioles a reason to be boastful in March 2005, when he wagged his finger on national television and proclaimed to a congressional committee on steroids that he had never, ever taken performance-enhancing drugs. While former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire choked out "no comments" and new Oriole Sammy Sosa was unconvincing in his denial, Palmeiro emerged as a hero on an otherwise embarrassing day for Major League Baseball.

September 28, 2007

Death, suspension, allegations

September 18, 2007

Gibbons meets with MLB officials

Eight days after a report alleged that received shipments of steroids and human growth hormone from 2003 to 2005, the Orioles outfielder met with baseball officials at their headquarters in New York City.

September 11, 2007

MLB officials want to talk to Gibbons

Baseball officials yesterday formally requested a meeting with Orioles outfielder to discuss his alleged link to performance-enhancing drugs, an industry source confirmed.

September 11, 2007

Effects of hGH a cloudy issue, experts say

Sports fans and commentators speak of human growth hormone as a magical substance that offers the same benefits as anabolic steroids but cannot be detected in urine tests.

September 10, 2007

Gibbons tied to hGH

Orioles outfielder received shipments of steroids and human growth hormone from an Orlando, Fla.-based pharmacy that is at the center of a federal investigation involving performance-enhancing drugs, according to a report last night on SI.com.

May 11, 2007

Peter Schmuck: Baseball's hallowed ground no shelter from steroid talk

Cal Ripken Jr. seemed to enjoy his orientation trip to upstate New York this week, but even in the idyllic small-town setting of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he could not escape the big-city questions about the troubling state of the game.

January 12, 2007

Report: Bonds failed test

Throughout baseball's raging steroids controversy, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds has maintained his innocence by offering the same, continual refrain - he gets tested each season and has never failed a drug test.

January 12, 2007

Peter Schmuck: Bonds' excuses positively pathetic

Of all the days of all the weeks of all the months that have been tainted by baseball's performance-enhancement scandal, Barry Bonds had to stumble back into the drug spotlight on the same day that new Hall of Famers Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn were taking their post-election bows at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

December 6, 2006

Ripken guards steroid insight

Retirement apparently hasn't disrupted Cal Ripken Jr.'s game.

June 30, 2006

Sun exclusive

Palmeiro speaks

The man whose finger-wagging image may forever be the lasting snapshot of baseball's so-called steroid era hasn't paid much attention to the sport's most recent drug scandal.

June 29, 2006

Orioles' drugs timeline

Feb. 14, 2005 - In a book, retired slugger Jose Canseco says he set up the Orioles' Rafael Palmeiro with a steroid supply when they played for Texas Rangers in the early 1990s. Canseco says he suspects the Orioles' Sammy Sosa is a steroid user.

June 11, 2006

Peter Schmuck: Throwing off players association, Grimsley hurls hGH into spotlight

Welcome to the worst nightmare of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

June 10, 2006

Grimsley is thrown into drug spotlight

The player at the center of baseball's latest drug controversy, Jason Grimsley, is perhaps more distinguished by the company he kept than anything he did in his 15-year career.

June 9, 2006

Congress urged baseball to save samples

Months before former Oriole Jason Grimsley said he and other players were using human growth hormone, Congress was quietly pressuring baseball to save players' urine specimens so they could be analyzed when a test for the performance-boosting drug becomes available.

June 8, 2006

Grimsley affidavit links O's, scandal

Nearly a year after the Rafael Palmeiro steroid scandal and months removed from the federal government's inquiries into Miguel Tejada 's vitamin B-12 usage, the Orioles are again intertwined in an investigation involving drugs and baseball.

June 9, 2006

Peter Schmuck: Dry spell over as juicy story hits home

Don't know about you, but I was feeling a little bit left out while Barry Bonds bore down on Babe Ruth the past couple of months. How could you help but pine for those halcyon days when Baltimore was -- for a couple of months -- the center of the steroid universe.

June 7, 2006

Steroid probe hits Grimsley

Federal investigators searched the house of Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Jason Grimsley yesterday as part of their investigation of steroid use in baseball.

November 11, 2005

Report doubts Palmeiro

WASHINGTON // A House committee report released yesterday undermines former Orioles star Rafael Palmeiro's contention that his positive steroids test was accidental and provides an alarming glimpse at life inside the team's clubhouse, which one lawmaker called "a mess."

September 28, 2005

McCain: MLBPA plan not enough

WASHINGTON // Four months ago, Sen. John McCain chided Major League Baseball Players Association chief Donald Fehr for being slow to take a position on a new steroids policy proposed by the baseball commissioner.

September 27, 2005

Players union proposes new steroids plan

Although the Major League Baseball Players Association's new steroids plan isn't as stringent as the one proposed by the commissioner's office, it does add the highly controversial and reportedly oft-used amphetamines to the banned list.

September 20, 2005

Palmeiro probe questions players

WASHINGTON // A congressional committee, seeking to determine whether Rafael Palmeiro lied six months ago when he testified that he never used steroids, has been interviewing major league players who know the Orioles first baseman, according to people familiar with the investigation.

September 20, 2005

With no BALCO trial, public remains unsure

WASHINGTON // Steroids experts say federal prosecutors missed an opportunity to learn more about what slugger Barry Bonds did and didn't do - and perhaps strike a memorable blow against steroid use - by failing to proceed with a trial in the case of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO.

September 4, 2005

The Streak: 10 Years Later

Years lend fresh perspective to meaning of Ripken feat

A few years ago, Cal Ripken and his wife plopped down in front of a television to finally watch the video commemorating Ripken's record-setting 2,131st consecutive major league game.

August 20, 2005

Internet fertile ground for rumors on steroids

These days in baseball, it's rumors that are on steroids, sometimes packing more punch by the day.

August 19, 2005

Palmeiro provided no details about test

Rafael Palmeiro did not provide an explanation at a hearing several months ago before Major League Baseball's arbitration panel of how a steroid entered his system, according to people who have read the transcript.

August 15, 2005

At Camden Yards, an emotional tug-of-war

Deep inside the bowels of Camden Yards, not more than 50 feet from the manager's office, there is a dimly lit tunnel. Each day, the tunnel is used by Orioles players as they leave the sanctuary of the clubhouse and walk onto the field, but an hour before each game, it is usually empty.

August 15, 2005

David Steele: Cheers for Palmeiro's last at-bat could be start of new beginning

WITH TWO OUTS and two on in the bottom of the ninth inning yesterday afternoon, the Rafael Palmeiro saga officially turned back into a baseball-only story.

August 15, 2005

Peter Schmuck: In a ballpark divided, reactions from fans provide potent mix

IT WAS the anabolic equivalent of "Tastes Great!" ... "Less Filling."

August 15, 2005

Palmeiro, O's fall short

Given the responsibility of checking the Orioles' lineup card yesterday, third base coach Rick Dempsey held it against the magnetic board outside the clubhouse, making sure all the names and positions matched up. Rafael Palmeiro, in the sixth slot, was listed as the designated hitter. No mistake there.

August 12, 2005

Palmeiro back to a game in crisis of faith

Palmeiro back as fans question game's soul

August 12, 2005

Palmeiro Returns to Orioles

10 days were 'tough time'

Moments before stepping onto the field at Camden Yards yesterday for the first time since serving a 10-day suspension for failing a drug test, Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro was joined in the home dugout by the team's best player, Miguel Tejada.

August 12, 2005

David Steele: Forgiveness is in air at yard as team's fallen hero signs in

IT WAS big, almost as big as the girl waving it over her head. It was bright orange with black lettering, and it read, "Welcome Back Raffy."

August 12, 2005

Peter Schmuck: Wasted words hang over return and leave little worth hearing

HE COULD have had us at "Hello" ... but that was 10 days ago.

August 11, 2005

Palmeiro to return without a word

Rafael Palmeiro's 10-day, steroids--related suspension ends today, and he now faces an uncertain - and potentially harrowing - adjustment as he rejoins the Orioles and faces baseball fans to whom he has provided an incomplete explanation.

August 11, 2005

David Steele: Fans can make a stand -- by sitting at home

SO, Rafael Palmeiro is still lawyering up. Fine. He spent the last nine days of his 10-day steroid suspension in silence and solitude.

August 11, 2005

Peter Schmuck: Silence speaks volumes in age of lost innocence

THE GREAT THING about being innocent is that you never have to make up a story to prove it.

August 8, 2005

Congress expects Palmeiro drug test records this week

WASHINGTON - A House committee chairman said yesterday he expects to have all of Major League Baseball's drug testing records for Rafael Palmeiro by the end of the week as the panel steps up its perjury investigation of the Orioles player.

August 7, 2005

Peter Schmuck: Palmeiro didn't provide hard truth, but Congress asked soft questions

WHILE WE WAIT for Congress to figure out what it is going to do with Rafael Palmeiro and Major League Baseball's flawed drug policy, it might be a good time to point out something very important.

August 7, 2005

Baseball Week

Damaged image an anti-drug tool

THREE DAYS after Rafael Palmeiro's somewhat contrite voice hit the national airwaves, Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig issued a statement.

August 7, 2005

When heroes falter, it's forgive or forget

Ray Lewis was accused of murder. Latrell Sprewell choked his coach. Muhammad Ali refused to go to war and was labeled a traitor.

August 7, 2005

Based on survey, Palmeiro faces a long haul to Hall

The debate was supposed to have ended on that night last month in Seattle when Rafael Palmeiro stroked his 3,000th hit, a well-placed double that bounced in front of the left field fence at Safeco Field, a spot in baseball immortality landing with it.

August 7, 2005

Players union looking into leaks to media

WASHINGTON - Major League Baseball Players Association lawyers are looking into leaks to the media in Rafael Palmeiro's steroids case and could file a grievance on behalf of the suspended Orioles first baseman.

August 6, 2005

Body language can translate into tale that's not intended

Rafael Palmeiro sent up an unmistakable red flag about steroid use on March 17, at least in the mind of John Boe, a California body-language expert.

August 5, 2005

Baseball, Palmeiro continue to bicker

Major League Baseball and Rafael Palmeiro continued to snipe at each other over privacy issues in his steroid case yesterday, making it hard to believe it has been only three weeks since baseball bought a congratulatory newspaper ad to mark the Oriole's 3,000th hit.

August 4, 2005

House panel probing whether Palmeiro lied at hearing

WASHINGTON - A House committee is investigating whether Orioles star Rafael Palmeiro committed perjury in testifying March 17 that he never used steroids.

August 4, 2005

Drug is powerful, has place in sports history

The steroid that Rafael Palmeiro allegedly took is a powerful drug, experts say, one not likely to be ingested unwittingly.

August 3, 2005

Palmeiro learned of failed test in May

While Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro chased historic hit No. 3,000 last month, he did so with the knowledge that he had failed a drug test.

August 3, 2005

'Sad' and 'sorry,' O's teammates will stand by Palmeiro

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Sammy Sosa knows what everybody is thinking.

August 3, 2005

Palmeiro's evolution as slugger cast in doubt after suspension

When Rafael Palmeiro was starting out with the Chicago Cubs, he seemed more likely to become the next Wade Boggs than to pass Reggie Jackson on the all-time home run list.

August 2, 2005

Palmeiro suspended

Five months after adamantly denying before Congress that he had used steroids, Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro has been suspended for violating Major League Baseball's policy on the banned substance.

12:25 PM EDT, August 2, 2005

Q&A with Randy Harvey

August 2, 2005

Peter Schmuck: He may not fit the bill, but he will pay price

THE IMAGE still lingers. Rafael Palmeiro, called to testify before a congressional committee on March 17, pointed his finger at committee chairman Tom Davis and denied that he had ever used illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

August 2, 2005

John Eisenberg: Juice leaves lasting stain on Palmeiro

Rafael Palmeiro sounded pretty convincing yesterday when he explained how he had "unintentionally" used a banned steroid. He was even more convincing last March when he told a congressional committee he had "never used steroids - period."

August 2, 2005

The Legacy

In a blink, Hall uncertain

Citing a confidentiality agreement with Major League Baseball repeatedly during a 25-minute teleconference yesterday, Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro avoided specific questions about when and what he might have taken that triggered a failed steroids test and a subsequent 10-day suspension.

August 2, 2005

'I accept this punishment'

Rafael Palmeiro's opening statement during a conference call after his 10-day suspension for a positive steroids test:

June 19, 2005

Taking a swing at sports reform

WASHINGTON - John McCain - Arizona senator, willful reformer, once and perhaps future presidential candidate and former prisoner of war - has assumed yet another role: America's unofficial sports minister.

May 20, 2005

House to seek tougher rules on steroid use in pro sports

WASHINGTON - Athletes in five major professional sports leagues would be subjected to an unforgiving steroid-testing regimen under terms of legislation to be introduced next week in the House of Representatives.

May 18, 2005

Ex-Terp Dixon set to testify at NBA steroid testing hearing

WASHINGTON - Washington Wizards guard Juan Dixon has agreed to testify at a hearing on NBA steroid testing policies being convened by a House committee that expressed disappointment that other players have so far declined to appear.

April 28, 2005

NFL scores points with Congress on steroids

BASEBALL took another beating on Capitol Hill yesterday, this time in absentia.

April 28, 2005

NFL commissioner opposes uniform approach on steroids

WASHINGTON - A congressional effort to create a single steroids testing standard for all professional sports gained momentum yesterday but was opposed by NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who said the league has no widespread steroids problem and can police itself.

April 27, 2005

NFL NOTES

League increases steroid testing

The NFL is tripling the number of offseason steroid tests each player can face, part of several changes to the league's drug policy that officials will tell members of Congress about today.

April 26, 2005

Steroid use in NFL may be wider than thought

WASHINGTON - Steroid use by players in the National Football League may be more widespread than tests have indicated, according to congressional staff members investigating the league's drug-testing program.

April 20, 2005

NFL NOTES

Congressional committee to probe league steroid use

The congressional committee that investigated steroid use in baseball will turn its investigation to the same problem in football. The panel said yesterday it will ask NFL officials and union representatives to testify at a hearing next week.

April 19, 2005

Notes

Red Sox fan loses '05 tickets

The spectator who interfered with New York Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield had his season tickets for 2005 revoked yesterday by the Boston Red Sox.

April 13, 2005

Notes

Canseco got $300,000 advance for book

Jose Canseco got a $300,000 advance for his book claiming several high-profile players used steroids, it was revealed in court yesterday in Miami.

April 11, 2005

Notes

Clemente Jr. says he took steroids in 1980s

Roberto Clemente's oldest son said he unknowingly took steroids from a trainer in Puerto Rico while rehabilitating a knee injury in the minor leagues in the 1980s.

April 10, 2005

Don't be shocked by who's on juice

When Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Alex Sanchez became the first major league player to be suspended for failing a steroid test, the news wasn't met with shock.

April 7, 2005

S.C. doctor planning book about steroids

Hot on the heels of Jose Canseco's controversial book on baseball and steroids, agent Doug Ames is pitching a tell-all football book by the Columbia, S.C., doctor under a federal steroids investigation.

April 5, 2005

Notes

Minors' steroids policy catches 38

Seattle Mariners pitcher Damian Moss, a former Oriole, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Francisco Cordova were among 38 players suspended yesterday for violating baseball's minor league steroids policy.

March 31, 2005

NFL now faces its own steroids test

In 1989, just one year after Ben Johnson ran to steroids infamy in the Olympic Games, Gary Wadler co-authored a critically acclaimed book on drugs in sports.

March 30, 2005

Steroid heat now turns to NFL

Two weeks after a congressional hearing intensified the steroids spotlight on baseball, the onus of abusing performance-enhancing drugs shifts to the NFL tonight.

March 25, 2005

Steroids scandal weakens McGwire's Hall support

NEW YORK - Mark McGwire could miss making the Hall of Fame because of baseball's swirling steroids scandal, heightened by his refusal to answer specific questions before Congress, an Associated Press survey showed yesterday.

March 21, 2005

Suspensions, not fines, to be steroid test penalty

Major league baseball players who fail steroid drug tests no longer will have the option of being fined instead of suspended, baseball's labor lawyer said yesterday.

March 21, 2005

McCain warns of need for steroids legislation

WASHINGTON - Saying Major League Baseball "can't be trusted," Sen. John McCain warned yesterday that legislation might be needed to force the sport to change its steroids policy.

March 21, 2005

The Flip Side

Singing a different tune on steroid issue

Mr. Flip Productions is proud to present, direct from the Ramada Inn on Route 9 in Lakewood, N.J., presenting her one-woman tribute to the great Connie Francis, Miss Francie Conway!

March 18, 2005

Baseball stars, officials testify

WASHINGTON - Some of baseball's brightest stars uneasily testified yesterday about steroid use, but a House committee saved its fire for baseball executives, going so far as to question whether their sport still deserved its treasured exemption from antitrust laws.

March 18, 2005

From stands, differing views on steroids in game

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Jeff Coffman stood alone outside the gates of the Orioles' spring training complex at 8 a.m., a solitary autograph-seeker on a non-game day just hoping to steal a moment with superstar Miguel Tejada.

March 17, 2005

Lawmakers find flaws in drug-testing policy

WASHINGTON - Baseball's new steroid testing policy is "riddled with loopholes" and not nearly as tough as the sport has made it out to be, federal lawmakers charged yesterday after reviewing documents detailing the new regimen.

March 18, 2005

On Capitol Hill

High tension at the table, media circus in the House

WASHINGTON - The line started to form at 6 a.m. outside the hearing room at the Rayburn Office Building, reaffirming the drawing power of Major League Baseball, even in one of its darkest hours.

3:04 PM EST, March 16, 2005

Text of Jose Canseco's statement

Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, distinguished guests; I am humbled by this opportunity to appear before you today. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that my athletic ability and love for America's game would lead me to this place and the subject that has brought me before the Committee. When I decided to write my life's story, I was aware that what I revealed about myself and the game I played for a majority of my life would create a stir in the athletic world. I did not know that my revelations would reverberate in the halls of this chamber and in the hearts of so many.

March 17, 2005

Baseball stars are refused immunity

WASHINGTON - A House committee refused yesterday to grant immunity to any of a half-dozen current and former baseball stars expected as mostly reluctant witnesses today for a hearing aimed at uncovering the truth about steroid use in their sport.

March 15, 2005

Article, not book, put Palmeiro on list

WASHINGTON - Since being placed on a witness list by a congressional committee, Rafael Palmeiro has felt victimized. The Oriole and former Texas Ranger has said he doesn't understand why he should have to testify about possible steroid use simply because he was accused in a "tell-all" book of using the drugs.

March 10, 2005

Baseball balks at authority of House

WASHINGTON - Major League Baseball challenged the authority yesterday of a House committee that issued subpoenas ordering seven current and former baseball stars, including two Orioles, to appear at a hearing next week on steroid use.

March 9, 2005

House to summon Sosa and Palmeiro

WASHINGTON - A House committee plans to subpoena up to seven former and current baseball players - including Orioles Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro - to appear at a congressional hearing to confront questions about steroid use that's tarnishing the game's reputation.

February 15, 2005

Canseco extols 'safe' steroids

In his new book, which hit stores yesterday, Jose Canseco not only names baseball players he says used steroids, but he also mounts a zealous and controversial defense of the drugs' alleged dramatic benefits, offering Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada as a case study.

February 8, 2005

Palmeiro: Canseco claims are 'ludicrous'

Rafael Palmeiro yesterday denied ever taking steroids, calling those claims in Jose Canseco's pending book "ludicrous," and Orioles owner Peter Angelos rushed to Palmeiro's defense.

February 7, 2005

Canseco book: Players injected each other

Jose Canseco threatened to name names. He threatened to smear Major League Baseball's image with allegations of widespread steroid abuse. When pressed for details, he said they'd all be in the book.